The supply of inner cities, where the signal is reflected many times on façades and where a very large number of participants is to be expected, is, however, problematic. The regions to be supplied by one antenna should sometimes be kept smaller here. At the same time, large antennae in inner cities disrupt the urban landscape more than in surrounding areas.
The example non-limiting technology herein provides a modular housing arrangement for antennae which can be used in particular in urban regions, this being intended to resolve the above problems and to be as simple as possible to install. Furthermore, it is intended for it to be possible to extend the antenna system for different providers as desired and as simply as possible.
This is achieved by the modular housing arrangement for antennae as described herein.
The modular housing arrangement for antennae provides at least one antenna housing (also referred to as a radome) which comprises a front face on the cover side, a front face on the base side and a peripheral side wall between the front face on the cover side and the front face on the base side that comprises a plurality of lateral surfaces, as a result of which a receiving space is defined. At least one antenna is arranged or can be arranged in the receiving space. On the peripheral side wall or on at least one, preferably on all, of the lateral surfaces of the peripheral side wall, at least one male and one female part of a positive and/or non-positive connection, in particular in the form of a snap connection, are arranged so as to be offset from one another. The at least one male part and at least one female part are designed to establish a positive and/or non-positive connection, which is detachable in a non-destructive and tool-free manner, to a corresponding female or male part, respectively, of at least one further antenna housing and/or of at least one connection element. In this case, it is particularly advantageous for it to be possible to interconnect a plurality of antenna housings as required by a positive and/or non-positive connection, in particular in the form of a snap connection or click connection. As a result of this, it is possible for the necessary antenna housings to be assembled very simply at the beginning of the installation of the modular housing arrangement. Even after installation has already been completed, the modular housing arrangement, as the name modular already implies, can very simply be extended by a new antenna housing being clipped onto it. Tools are not necessary for this and therefore the installation is greatly simplified. In this case, the modular housing arrangement can be mounted in and/or to or on “street furniture” such as bus shelters, public toilets, advertising hoardings, information boards, kiosks, ticket machines and advertising columns, etc. In this case, the individual antenna housings can be rented out to various mobile communications providers. The conventional communications standards such as GSM, UMTS and LTE can be offered via the individual antenna housings. A WLAN connection can also be provided, which is made available, for example, by the city or an advertising company. It is also possible for some antennae to act as repeaters, as a result of which a wired supply of the antennae of the modular housing arrangement can be omitted. The modular housing arrangement can therefore very easily be extended or dismantled as required.
In this case, the at least one male part is pin-shaped or approximately pin-shaped, whereas the at least one female part consists of a receiving element in the shape of a U and/or a bracket, or of at least two receiving elements in the shape of a U and/or a bracket that are spaced apart from one another in the axial direction, each receiving element in the shape of a U and/or a bracket consisting of two resilient retaining legs, by means of which the at least one male part is or can be retained in a positive manner.
Preferably, the male parts are designed identically to one another at least with respect to the arrangement or dimensions of their contact points, i.e. the points that engage in the female part. In this case, a fitter does not first have to check how he can connect one antenna housing to the other antenna housing or to a connecting element.
In this case, the at least one antenna housing is preferably formed integrally with all of the male and female parts which are arranged thereon. The at least one antenna housing preferably consists of plastics material and is produced in an injection moulding process. The front face on the cover side is preferably closed. Such a closure can be produced directly during production of the antenna housing such that the antenna housing is formed integrally together with the closed front face on the cover side. Such a closure can, however, also be provided in the form of a cover which is placed on later, i.e. after production. The front face on the base side is preferably fully or partially open such that the connection cable or the plug-in connection for the connection cable for the antennae arranged inside the antenna housing can be guided out.
In a development of the modular housing arrangement, the at least one antenna housing is in the shape of an n-gon where n≥4, at least one male part and at least one female part of the positive and/or non-positive connection being arranged on most or all of the n lateral surfaces of the peripheral side wall so as to be offset from one another in the peripheral direction. In this case, the male and the female part are arranged identically on each lateral surface so that the antenna housing can be rotated as desired.
When in use, the modular housing arrangement preferably comprises at least two antenna housings which can be or are directly or indirectly interconnected by means of the respective male and female parts of the positive and/or non-positive connection, the planes of the front faces on the cover side of the individual antenna housings being arranged at an angle of 0°, 90° and/or 180° to one another. This means that the individual antenna housings extend through the same plane or are arranged so as to be offset from one another by 90° such that different streets are illuminated or that the individual antenna housings are arranged so as to be offset from one another by 180° such that a front and a rear part of a street is illuminated. Other angular positions such as 120°, for example, are likewise conceivable.
In the event that both antenna housings are directly interconnected, at least one male part of each of the two antenna housings engages in a corresponding female part on the other antenna housing. In this case, the spacing between the individual antenna housings is minimal. In this case, the spacing should be selected such that MIMO operation (Multiple Input Multiple Output) of the at least two antenna housings having the respective antennae is possible.
The individual antenna housings can, however, also be interconnected only indirectly. In this case, both antenna housings are preferably connected to the same connecting element, which in this case is a spacer. The spacer has two opposing lateral surfaces, at least one male part and at least one female part of a positive and/or non-positive connection being arranged on each lateral surface so as to be offset from one another. The two lateral surfaces of the spacer are spaced apart from one another by an intermediate part, the spacer preferably being formed integrally with the intermediate part. Such a spacer is used if the antenna housings interconnected thereby are operated by different mobile communications providers or if no MIMO operation is intended for example. With respect to its dimensions, the size of the spacer is such that the individual antennae inside the at least two antenna housings influence each other as little as possible. The spacing between the individual antenna housings, which is precisely defined by the spacer, is also favourable for decoupling.
In order to further reinforce the modular housing arrangement, a further embodiment provides for the use of at least one connection element in the form of a reinforcing element. On a first lateral surface, the reinforcing element has at least one male part and at least one female part of a positive and/or non-positive connection, which are arranged so as to be offset from one another. In this case, the reinforcing element can be connected to just one lateral surface of the antenna housing, i.e. with precisely one antenna housing. It can, however, also be connected to two adjacent antenna housings, the male part of the reinforcing element engaging in the female part of a first antenna housing and the female part of the reinforcing element engaging in the male part of the other antenna housing.
On a first front face, the reinforcing element can additionally have a male part and on a second front face it can additionally have a female part of a positive and/or non-positive connection. As a result, it is possible for two reinforcing elements to be directly or indirectly interconnected. A direct connection can, for example, be achieved if the two antenna housings are directly interconnected without the use of a spacer. In this case, each reinforcing element can engage on just one lateral surface of the side wall of each antenna housing, the two reinforcing elements being additionally interconnected on their front face. In the event that the two antenna housings are interconnected only indirectly, i.e. are spaced apart from one another by a spacer, the male and female part on the respective front faces of both reinforcing elements can engage in the corresponding male and female part, respectively, on the front face of an intermediate connector, as a result of which the two reinforcing elements are indirectly interconnected.
It is also possible for the connecting element to be an L-bar connector which has a male part of a positive and/or non-positive connection on its first front face and a female part of a positive and/or non-positive connection on its second front face. The first front face of the at least one L-bar connector is connected to a reinforcing element, whereas the second front face of the L-bar connector engages in a male or female part of a further lateral surface of the peripheral side wall of the antenna housing. The further lateral surface is directly adjacent to the lateral surface of the peripheral side wall on which the reinforcing element engages. Using an L-bar connector, two directly adjacent lateral surfaces of the peripheral side wall of the antenna housing can be interconnected by the reinforcing element.
In addition, it is particularly advantageous if the reinforcing element comprises, on the lateral surface, at least two mutually offset male parts and/or at least two mutually offset female parts of a positive and/or non-positive connection. Depending on whether the two antenna housings are indirectly or directly interconnected, one or other of the at least two male or female parts engages with the relevant mating part. As a result, a reinforcing element can be used which interconnects two antenna housings on their peripheral side wall, in particular irrespective of whether the two antennae are each indirectly or directly interconnected.
In addition, it is also possible for the front faces on the cover side, i.e. the faces on which the antennae arranged inside the antenna housings radiate, not to point in the same direction. It is therefore also possible for the front faces on the base sides of two antenna housings to be arranged so as to be spaced apart from one another and oriented towards one another. In this case, the individual antenna housings are arranged so as to be offset from one another by 180°.
In this case, a connecting element in the form of a connecting plate can be used which is arranged perpendicularly to the two front faces on the cover side. The connecting plate has at least two male and at least two female parts of a positive and/or non-positive connection, said parts engaging in the corresponding mating parts on the first and on the second antenna housing.
The at least one antenna housing can also be attached to corresponding parts of a base structure and/or carrier plate by means of the at least one male and female part of the positive and/or non-positive connection, which structure or plate is part of a building structure and acts for attaching to the “street furniture”. In the event that the “street furniture” itself has a male and a female part of such a positive and/or non-positive connection directly on its surface, the at least one antenna housing can, for example, be directly connected to the roof of a bus shelter.
In order to preserve the urban landscape, it is advantageous in this case for the modular housing arrangement to have an outer housing as well. In this case, the outer housing surrounds all of the antenna housings collectively and can, for example, be kept the same colour as the surrounding object structure.